Another funeral. Unbelievable! This time there was much less pomp. There were firecrackers at the celebration, but not the drums, etc. as in the last funeral. Apparently, it was the out-of-towners that insisted on all the razzle-dazzle of the last funeral. The deceased this time was a 70-ish year old woman who was jaundiced and had asthma. The villagers new she her death was imminent for a while. And yeah, it was the same sort of thing. A lot of people came to the funeral and to visit my host family (and stare in amazement at me).
The exciting part of this funeral was that the funeral procession went right by our door. The preparation for the event included adding a powder that smelled like chlorine to the sewer running the whole length of our street, sprinkling ash around the doorways to prevent disease from entering, and lots of loud firecrackers. In the actually procession flowers were strewn about and a bunch of men carried the body on an open stretcher to the burial grounds. I noticed that the dead woman's mouth was bound. Kandasamy tells me this was to prevent the spread of bacteria.
Yesterday, I also got to explore some nearby temples(within 20-30 kms), including an "underground" Jain temple carved out of one piece of rock. I have some pretty incredible pictures that I'll post when I have the capability.
2 comments:
Beautiful pictures, Adrienne. Sounds like all is well so far. Glad to hear of your safe travels and your explorations around the community. But what I want to know is, if it is so hot, why are you wearing long sleeves? Is that more culturally appropriate?
--Phyllis HN
Adrienne, it's been great to read each of your updates thus far. Sounds like an exciting time to be experiencing a new culture. How brave of you! Looking forward to more photos. I've got you on my browser RSS so update notifications are easy. Gotta love technology. Be safe and have the best day ever! love, cuz Em
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